2002 Mazda Protege 5 w/ 121,000km. My back tires went bald after 1 year. I was told to change front struts & have alignment done. I installed new struts in front & had wheel alignment done at local tire shop (they only change tires & alignments). They couldn't completely re-align my wheels. They said they're not a mechanic shop but it could be anything. They gave me a print of the closest they could get to spec. Can anyone suggest why my wheels cant go into full alignment?
I don't understand the numbers on the read out completely IE: SAI, Toe, Thrust angle
Ive attached my readout, can anyone make out whats possibly wrong and why my vehicle cant completely align?

Well that right rear wheel toe in looks a bit awkward. You need to get that down. The tyre will be travelling sideways a well as forward. Toe is supposed to compensate for movement in the suspension when the car is moving, encouraging the tyres point straight

Your thrust is probably out because the excessive toe in. Thrust is the wheels not pointing in the same direction as the centreline of the car.

I'm not sure how rear wheel thrust can be sorted out by replacing front struts.

__________________
"She gave me a look only a mother could give a child."

Well that right rear wheel toe in looks a bit awkward. You need to get that down. The tyre will be travelling sideways a well as forward. Toe is supposed to compensate for movement in the suspension when the car is moving, encouraging the tyres point straight

Your thrust is probably out because the excessive toe in. Thrust is the wheels not pointing in the same direction as the centreline of the car.

I'm not sure how rear wheel thrust can be sorted out by replacing front struts.

Make sure to top off the blinker fluid while they're working on it too.

Although there are a few possible things that could cause this (tweaked unibody, bent subframe, bent trailing link, bent strut), the most likely in my experience is a bent lateral link which shortens the effective center to center length causing you to run out of adjustment at the cam. This is sometimes caused by thumping a curb with the affected wheel or more often by some genius jacking the car on the link. That'll put a nice bend in it.

And I have no idea how your front struts leaking would cause excessive rear tire wear or incorrect rear toe. The shop probably can't either. Ask them to explain it in great detail or refund your money. I hope they kissed you because you sure got f*cked.

P.S. I just compared the specs at your alignment shop with Mazda factory specs. Your shop of choice gives themselves a large margin for error. In my opinion, it's time to find another shop.

__________________Thanks for the pic, jedimario.

"Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, use that something to support their own existence."Frank Vincent Zappa, 1940-1993

Although there are a few possible things that could cause this (tweaked unibody, bent subframe, bent trailing link, bent strut), the most likely in my experience is a bent lateral link which shortens the effective center to center length causing you to run out of adjustment at the cam. This is sometimes caused by thumping a curb with the affected wheel or more often by some genius jacking the car on the link. That'll put a nice bend in it.

And I have no idea how your front struts leaking would cause excessive rear tire wear or incorrect rear toe. The shop probably can't either. Ask them to explain it in great detail or refund your money. I hope they kissed you because you sure got f*cked.

P.S. I just compared the specs at your alignment shop with Mazda factory specs. Your shop of choice gives themselves a large margin for error. In my opinion, it's time to find another shop.

Seriously just check the camber and have it aligned right. Should be more than half the problem.

Seriously just check the camber and have it aligned right. Should be more than half the problem.

Seriously, if you bothered to read the spec sheet, assuming you know how to, the problem is entirely caused by too much toe-in on the right rear.

Seriously, the only way for the right rear toe to be that far out initially is for something to be bent (assuming all the correct parts are installed), and if it's that far out to start you'll never get it within spec (the cams only allow about 1 degree of adjustment each way per side).

Seriously, I still don't understand how an alignment shop can be so clueless as to what the problem is and is apparently unable to determine the root cause.

Seriously, you work there, don't you?

__________________Thanks for the pic, jedimario.

"Everybody believes in something and everybody, by virtue of the fact that they believe in something, use that something to support their own existence."Frank Vincent Zappa, 1940-1993

Seriously, if you bothered to read the spec sheet, assuming you know how to, the problem is entirely caused by too much toe-in on the right rear.

Seriously, the only way for the right rear toe to be that far out initially is for something to be bent (assuming all the correct parts are installed), and if it's that far out to start you'll never get it within spec (the cams only allow about 1 degree of adjustment each way per side).

Seriously, I still don't understand how an alignment shop can be so clueless as to what the problem is and is apparently unable to determine the root cause.